When a game's been out for long enough, it's easy for fans to assume that all of its secrets have been uncovered. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a key example of this, as it was also a classic that has been played by countless numbers of players. Despite all of this, new information always seems to be cropping up, and this time an interview with one Giles Goddard just revealed some interesting facts about the game's early development, primarily about a cut feature that would have changed the game as players know it.
Goddard worked on the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at the Shoshinkai trade show in 1995, and apparently still has some of this early source code. During the interview with the Youtube channel MinnMaxShow, he elaborates that this was less a demo build and more like a proof of concept. Nevertheless, it featured many prominent things that made it into the full game.
While an early version of the game with a Hyrule Castle is certainly cool, what's even more mind boggling is that there were once fully functioning portals scattered around it. According to Goddard, players could look through one portal and see what's on the other side, and walking through the portal would instantly transport the player to the other side of the map. The kind of technology needed to make this happen would have been largely unheard of back then, making it all the more impressive that Nintendo somehow managed to get it to work.
Apparently this feature was scrapped due to time constraints, as development on all the other features were prioritized over it. It's likely that truly perfecting it would have taken more time and resources that Nintendo didn't have at the time. The game could have been drastically different with this inclusion, but in some ways it may be better off without it. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is still widely considered one of the most iconic games in the entire Zelda franchise, so it doesn't really need anything more or anything less to shine.
Even so, it's fun to think about how certain dungeons might have been different with the use of these portals. Imagine traversing the infamous Water Temple with The Legend of Zelda's equivalent of a portal gun. Even outside of dungeons, it could be extremely useful for exploration and travel. Give it some time and modders will almost surely make this dream a reality.
The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time is available now for the Nintendo 64.